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Wednesday, January 9, 2019

Michigan has lost two key recruiters off its defensive staff to it's top rival the last two days. Not only is that a bit strange, its also a hit to the staff.

Staff changes are very common each year, situations like Fred Jackson who was Michigan's RB coach for 150 years is not the norm. Harbaugh is very respected in coaching circles and hires strong coaches young and old, so it's not a surprise that his staff gets jobs each off season.

I actually thought Michigan could have kept both Mattison and Washington with a new title and few extra dollars. For some reason, that didn't happen. (Per Sam Webb, Al left because his family is in CBus and he could have a great job near his family. That Jimmy tried to keep him but the family closeness was the difference) Which leads me to believe, there has to be plan.

I have been batting .000 on predicting these coaching moves, so I will give you what I think.

I expect Don Brown to stay at this point, Temple has expanded their search and are now in contact with Wisconsin's OC, EMU's and N. Illinois's head coaches. The local paper says they are down to a small group and hope to have a decision this weekend. Is Don in that group? Don't know. But if they wanted Don, I would have expected an offer and a hire by now.

Bust Guess: Don Stays

Don now has 2 openings on his staff. DL and LB coach, if past history is any indication Michigan won't be in any rush to hire these positions. The first shoe to drop has to be Don staying and then these positions will get filled. A name that has started to pop up is former Wolverine and current Raiders DL coach Mike Trgovac. Former Michigan LB Larry Foote is/was the LB coach of the Arizona Cardinals and is probably available as well. He is a bit out spoken but could be a strong recruiter with his ties to the area. He might be headed to Tampa Bay anyway?

I have also heard wishes from fans for Charles Woodson or Brady Hoke. Chuck has a good job and a wine business, he is also on record on not being interested in coaching. Brady is a good DL coach and a very good recruiter, but that might be just a little too weird. I don't believe either to be an option.

Best Guess: these roles get filled later this month after the Don Brown saga with Temple is over.

Nothing new with Pep and I do expect that he will eventually head to the NFL, once all the head coaching openings are filled and they start hiring offensive coaches. USC needs a new OC, I'm just saying.

Best Guess: leaving, but might take a minute.

Some other coaching news:

Some have pondered Matt Canada as the OC when Pep leaves. Matt is looking at the IU OC job and is also interested in the N. Illinois job if Rod Carey goes to Temple. Matt did a fine job at Maryland this year under very tough circumstances.

Denard has lost his head coach in the new AAF! Current head coach for the Atlanta Legends Brad Childress is stepping away and Kevin Coyle is taking over. Yes, Denard is on the roster of the Atlanta Legends which new league is expected to start after the Super Bowl.

Scott K I don't know. I think Brady would do well. He can reinvent himself at Michigan. He loves Michigan and knows the tradition. He has relationships all over the country and would recruit really really well. His players loved him and I think with him being the D line coach. His players will go hard for him in the tranches.